encouraging dummy use

[princessellie]

how on earth do you get a 7month old baby interested in a dummy? when naomie was born i didnt want her to have a dummy cos i wanted breastfeeding to work, its worked a little bit too well and she feeds all night, every night, i havent had more than about an hours sleep since she was born i need her to take a dummy but shes just not interested, she used to always suck her thumb but shes stopped that lately aswell which isnt helping matters, i know i sound really selfish trying to get her to take a dummy purely for me when shes not interested but i need sleep x

 

[KayBea]

Have you tried different types of dummies? My LO will only have the tommee tippee ones..
X

 

[princessellie]

hmm no i havent, ive only tried avent ones since those are the ones we have, what other shapes can you get? i thought they were all pretty much teh same, only got the avent ones cos they have a thing on them to keep the teat clean x

 

[Lellow]

I know each to there own etc, but at this stage i wouldnt ever want LO to take a dummy...

...Mainly cos i just couldnt bare the the thought of the battle to take it away again!!!

My niece was put on to a dummy at 9 months and she had it right up until almost her 4th birthday - The only reason it was removed was cos she was due to start school so my sister had to literally make her go cold turkey and it was a nightmare!!!

It made a sweet little girl turn into a menace.....She's fine now tho

 

[AP]

mam dummies are quite popular with fussy babies, they are of an orthodontic shape? x

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah, different dummies might help, I think that's all you can try though.

I don't think it is a problem to give a dummy at this age, it's a far more gentle solution to sleep issues than some others I could think of. My friend was desperate with her 2 year old feeding all night and gave a dummy. It helped a little apparently. It's only for sleep anyway, not in her mouth all day!

 

[LPF]

I 'think' the natural sucking reflex peters out after 6 months so its probably not as natural for them to pick up after this. Don't know but might be the case. MAM dummys are good though.

 

[KayBea]

Here are the tommee tippee ones.. My LO is only 6 weeks so she has the top left one.. Might be worth going to mothercare or tesco and have a look at the shape of them.. Mothercare can be quite expensive though so might be worth looking around to see if you can find them cheaper.

https://www.tommeetippee.co.uk/department/soothers/

Xx

 

[jakey1]

The Tommee Tippee plain cherry soothers are the only ones that my two would use. DS has always liked a Dummy but has never used it all day, just to get him off to sleep at night or for a daytime nap. However, DD never really took to using a dummy - it just never interested her So you may have a battle on your hand and I don't think there's really anything you can do to make her like it - good luck x

 

[cat81]

I tried to get my LO to take a dummy for the same reasons as you describe but we haven't had much luck so far. He has sucked it once or twice but usually just pulls it out of his mouth and chews the plastic bit.

 

[pip holder]

What about putting the dummy in her mouth either immediately before or after a boob feed - just not a 'proper' one when she is super hungry?

That way she'll start to associate it with the comfortt of nursing and eventually not need boobs for comfort as much. Defo try few different types though - I tried a good 3-4 brands with the boy before he was happy

 

[kazharry]

All of mine have only ever taken to the cherry teat ones too x

 

[tommyg]

Try the cherry type however as other posters have said they no longer need to comfort suck beyond 5 or 6 months in fact one book I have recommends getting rid of them at that stage.

I'd be temped to get him a soft toy to hug instead.

My friends son went cold turkey off his at 5 months and she gave him a soft toy to hug instead of the dummy he was unsettled for a few nights and now aged 3 carts the toy everywhere with him.

 

[Happy Hudson]

Paige was a lot younger when I gave her a dummy because she was using me as a comforter.
I found that lightly tapping the end of her dummy when she had it in her mouth helped her get used to it. x

 

[Bingo]

Some babes just won't take a dummy like mine won't. I have about 30 different dummies and she's not a bit interested. I wanted her to take one because we were due to fly long haul. I still occasionally give her one to see if she'll accept it but she never does. Probably a good thing at this point though as she's gone 6 months not wanting one.

Maybe controlled crying is the way forward. I don't know if what I did with my LO is considered CC but I stopped her waking 4 times a night (nothing compared to what you are experiencing!) to feed by patting her back (she's a front sleeper). If she was still crying after 6 minutes I would pick her up and put her back down for more patting once she had stopped crying. I don't think I ever had to pick her up more than 3 times before she would go back to sleep. After about five nights of doing that she was only waking once at 4am. However she has been waking a couple of times these past few nights and won't be settled without a feed but I've not been as dedicated to settling her this time around. I'm exhausted with just one or 2 sleep interuptions so you must feel like the walking dead.

I have read a lot on here that some babies will only accept cherry shaped dummies.

Good luck with whatever method you choose.

 

[princessellie]

thanks everyone, im gna buy some of these cherry dummies in town today and hopefully they will work x

 

[Kalah]

Have you considered just trying co-sleeping? If the dummy thing doesn't work out you can just sleep while she comfort sucks and finally get a full nights rest =)

 

[princessellie]

we already cosleep babes x

 

[sophxx]

My lo refused cherry dummies do we had to get mam or nuk prob vest just trying a few dummies x

 

[MissCurly]

another cherry dummy user here.

i like the fact that when she's tired she can put the dummy in her own mouth.